Battle of Flodden Field

Battle of Flodden Field

Flodden Field, Battle of, a battle September 9, 1513, in which the Scottish were defeated by the English. The battle site is in the Cheviot Hills in Northumberland, England. Among the Scots who were killed (estimated at 10,000) was James IV, grandfather of Mary, Queen of Scots. Few of King James's men survived the encounter with the English troops, led by the 70-year-old Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey.

James had invaded England as the climax of a long quarrel with Henry VIII. The Scots, outflanked by the English forces, made a heroic last-ditch stand. Their story and the sadness their fate brought to Scotland are dramatically told in Sir Walter Scott's poem Marmion.